A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the dispensing of sheets from rolls of continuous sheet material, and in particular, to a dispensing apparatus that rotatably supports such a roll to allow easy access and dispension of sheets of the material, and allows replacement of a roll, for example, when the predecessor roll has been depleted.
B. Problems in the Art
Conventional dispensers for rolls of sheet material, such as toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, and the like, consist of a spindle which is inserted through the center of the roll. The rolls usually have a cardboard tube along their center longitudinal axis upon which the roll of material is then wound. The spindle, once placed through the center of the roll, is then supported at opposite ends in some sort of receptacle. The roll can then be rotated either in the receptacle, or around the spindle, to allow for dispension of the sheets of material.
Such an arrangement is straight forward and generally acceptable for most uses. It does require the manual placement of the spindle into the roll, and then positioning of the spindle in the receptacle. It also requires the spindle to be removed from the cardboard tube and placed into a new roll if a change of rolls is desired. Also, such dispensers are generally limited to use with a single roll.
Therefore, there is room for improvement in the art. It is advantageous, at least in certain circumstances, to have multiple rolls available, without requiring the manual steps discussed above to change rolls. Several attempts have been made to provide devices towards this end. For example, below are listed several patents that purport to allow dispension of multiple rolls of material from a single apparatus:
______________________________________ INVENTOR/ U.S. Pat. No. COUNTRY ISSUE DATE ______________________________________ 5,000,393 Madsen - USA 03/19/91 4,844,361 Granger - 07/04/89 USA 4,520,968 Shpigelman - 06/04/85 USA 4,697,754 Duff - USA 10/6/87 4,410,221 Vallis, et 10/18/83 al. - USA 2 108 927A Bowater- 05/25/83 Scott - (Publication Great Date) Britain ______________________________________
Deficiencies or problems still exist irrespective of the above listed attempts. For example, all the above listed devices represent relatively complex structure. Some continue to involve the manual step of withdrawing a spindle and then replacing it into the replacement roll before a succeeding roll can be dispensed.
Therefore, room for improvement still exists with regard to simplicity, economy regarding both manufacture and sale, and with respect to the amount of manual involvement in operating the dispenser, including replacement of rolls.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a dispenser of rolls of sheet material that improves upon the state of the art.
Further objects of the present invention include:
1. the storage, support, and availability of multiple rolls of material in a single apparatus; PA1 2. minimization of the level of detail and amount of manual interaction with the dispenser when replacing rolls; PA1 3. the provision of a simple yet reliable multiple roll dispenser; and PA1 4. the provision of a multiple roll dispenser which is economical and non-complex to manufacture, use, and maintain.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent with reference to the accompanying specification and claims.